11 April 2008

I was extremely honoured this morning to be invited to the hospital to see Khilandeep’s wife and baby. Certainly brings back fond memories of when my children were born. The little girl was born about 9.45pm last night. The photo of her is when she was 12 hours old. She’s so tiny. Didn’t get to have a cuddle. I wanted to be careful that I wasn’t getting in the way of any tradition. I can see that Mum and baby are in the best of care. Khilandeep’s mother was there to look after them both.
Gurpreet and her husband took me to their house for lunch today. What a magnificent place. Its like a palace. You can fit my whole house in the dining room, kitchen and first lounge. They have a servant who cooked lunch for us. They call her ‘Aunty’, which I think is a similar word to ‘Marcie’. Elders are very rarely called by their first name. In this instance, she was being called aunty as a mark of respect.
It turns out that there were three calls yesterday in response to the advert in the newspaper. Each of the tutors couldn’t speak English so they were turned away.
So if things keep going the way they are, we may not have this one solved before I come home. Gurpreet has said that she is going to teach the course. She has been sitting in on the classes where she could. She has also been teaching her IELTS classes. Today she employed a lady that will take over her classes so she can spend more time in this class. This lady was the person who taught her English.
After work Gurpreet and her husband took me to another mall to do some shopping. I think this is the newest mall in Ludhiana. Its only been open for a year. Its about six stories high. It ‘s quite something when you first step inside. Reminds me of the malls in Singapore. Its such a strong contrast between this and the hundreds of little shops around the city. If this is a indicator of where India is going, I think we can expect some major changes in the very near future. I do wonder whether its all to fast.